Makch 31, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



473 



not be blamed, even if it is ill founded ; and I 

 am inclined to depend upon it for the correc- 

 tion of any defects ■which may exist in the man- 

 agement of the Naval Observatory. If the 

 critics cannot agree among themselves no 

 change is probably required, but if there is a 

 general accordance among them it will be diflfi- 

 cult for the Washington astronomers to persist 

 in opposition to the scientific sentiment of the 

 country. For example, the publication of the 

 Washington observations has often been con- 

 sidered needlessly irregular and dilatory. If 

 this criticism is just, and if the Naval Observ- 

 atory has ample means for the reduction and 

 publication of its work, I can hardly doubt that 

 the mere repetition of the complaint will before 

 lon^ succeed in removing the occasion for it. 

 Aethue Seaele. 

 Haevakd College Obseevatoey. 



To THE Editoe of Science : Your ques. 

 tions are fundamental. 



1. The right to existence of a National As- 

 tronomical Observatory supported by the United 

 States seems to me beyond dispute, and this 

 too for the reason that certain classes of as- 

 tronomical observations, such as those of the 

 positions of sun, moon and the larger planets, 

 must be maintained with a regularity seldom 

 attained in an observatory subject to the vicis- 

 situdes of a changing policy or to the fluctua- 

 tion of available funds. In general, those re- 

 searches which demand long series of observa- 

 tions whose accumulation is liliely to outlast 

 the activity of an individual astronomer require 

 an institution having the stability of a National 

 Observatory. 



For example, Holden's inquiry as to the 

 evidences of change of form in nebulse, which 

 appeared in the Washington Observations for 

 1878, is a preliminary discussion whose final 

 answer can best be given by comparison of a 

 series of photographs taken under identical 

 conditions at regular intervals and accumulated 

 perhaps for some centuries. Such a work seems 

 eminently suitable for a National Observatory. 



But (3) the New Naval Observatory does 

 not now fulfill, and need never fulfill, these ob- 

 jects so completely that the cooperation of 

 other institutions shall be unnecessary ; and a 



carefully considered scheme for the division of 

 labor and the cooperation of working astrono- 

 mers would add to the efficiency of every ob- 

 servatory in the land. Indeed, it may be said 

 that already, without any set compact, there is 

 a tacit recognition of the fitness of individuals 

 for special work, and a partial relinquish- 

 ment of such work to the men whose attain- 

 ments, or the institutions whose outfits, promise 

 the best results. 



It would be very easy to criticise the present 

 Naval Observatory, but probably few of us 

 could do better under the existing system, which 

 is not sufficiently elastic, and which fails to rec- 

 ognize that Science is like a living plant and 

 must have room to grow. I will confine my- 

 self to one example. The accumulation of 

 accurate magnetic records, and their comparison 

 with cosmic phenomena, ought to be an unin- 

 terrupted work, undertaken with the design of 

 making it permanent, and as such it is suitable 

 for a National Observatory. The folly of con- 

 tinuing magnetic observations in the rapidly 

 altering environment of a great city, where 

 electric currents generate a variable magnetic 

 field of their own, has been abundantly demon- 

 strated. Scientific opinion and common sense 

 demand the immediate removal of the magnetic 

 part of the working outfit of the Naval Observ- 

 atory to one or more suitable localities, far 

 removed from civilization, but the sluggish re- 

 sponse of a conservative authority which finds 

 it difficult to conceive of a National Observatory 

 in any other place than Washington, D. C, bids 

 fair to leave a gap in our records unless indi- 

 vidual action comes to the rescue. Now, while 

 it is not desirable that an institution having the 

 especial character of permanence should shift 

 its policy on small provocation, there ought be 

 freedom to meet emergencies. 



Feank W. Vbey. 



Beown TJnivbesity. 



To THE Editoe OF Science : In response to 

 your significant enquiries : 



1. Is it desirable that the government of the 

 United States should support a national astro- 

 nomical observatory ? 



Yes, the United States, as a leading nation of 

 the globe, is virtually pledged to equip and 



